My Adventure: by Peter Keirn
About 15years ago, I was invited to visit my dad in Texas. He lured me to this visit with a promise of a free marathon entry-I just needed to train and finish it with about 6 months’ notice. Being a fairly athletic guy, but not particularly having a lot of endurance, I figured this was a good way to get my adult self into some sort of real shape. My dad used to be a marathon runner in the ’70’s and 80’s and ran a few ultramarathons in the 90’s, so in part, I was dabbling in what made him tic.
More than the added physical fitness happened though. I found my first marathon to be exciting, the race-day anticipation after months of training, the start-line vibes, the crowds, the finish line cheers all added to the allure. As exhausting as my first effort was, I soon found myself searching for and signing up for a local 50k later that summer thinking that this was just the natural progression of things. I had just started nursing school around this time and found that my new sport may have to be put on hold for a little while as I start a new career path.
Flash forward about 2 years and I’m on a 2nd date (with my partner of over 10years now), running through the park with her and a bunch of strangers and completely lost in the joy I’m having while running. We are on a Hash House Harrier’s run, which is an old British running club formed in the 1930’s to break up the boredom of rubber farming in Malaysia. They have clubs all over the world and apparently a newer one had just formed where I live in Syracuse, NY. This is a club for running for fun, not for winning the next 10k. But it was the fun I had forgotten about that had delayed my return to running after my nursing career had started. I had briefly forgotten the mystery and power to get completely lost and absorbed in the act of running.
I started running regularly and signed up for my first 50-miler soon after. I got two co-workers who’ve never run a day since high school gym class to run the Pittsburgh marathon with me. Since then, I have racked up dozens of ultra distance races including about half a dozen 100-mile races.
I like to run about 200 miles in race distances every year to keep my legs and mind limber. While running ultra distance races has its challenges, I have found the fun to be what keeps me doing this. I’ve inadvertently tried to get family, friends, strangers, and new acquaintances involved in this sport, because if you know people you like that are running, it’ll be that much more fun for yourself. Giving them honest quips like: “if you can run a 5k, 5k is half of a 10k, which is half of a half marathon…so you may as well sign up for the 50k,” or “just think about how much fun you had doing a marathon, it’s twice that fun when you’re running a 50-miler.”
While my dad had gotten me into this sport, I have brought in my two brothers, several co-workers, and many friends into the fray of long-distance running.
As a nurse I’ve had both good and bad scheduling, allowing me the ability to train or really just wing some races on minimal sleep. As I’ve built up my confidence in running long distances I’ve entered into more serious races like the Leadville 100 and Rio Grande 100 in the Colorado Rockies. Both races are 100 miles and boast 15,000-18,000ft of elevation gain at altitudes over 10,000 ft above sea level. They are more than monetary and time commitments; they are races you need to train for at higher altitudes for success.
The disadvantage to the nursing schedule is I don’t always get the vacation schedule that matches my earned/accrued time off or training/racing schedule needs. So I’ve taken to travel nursing, which gives me a little more freedom to take longer blocks of time off to pursue more serious training in the Colorado Rockies or elsewhere. For the past three years I’ve been working like this and love the flexibility I get from the work schedule. The added time off has also allowed me to pursue other running and adventure goals. I’ve climbed 33 of Colorado’s 58 mountains above 14,000 feet, completing 23 of these peaks in the past 3 summers of running and training. My racing goals for this summer are to complete a 100-miler or two, but I’m more interested in combining the long distance running and 14er summits with an attempt to solo hike Nolan’s 14ers this summer. Nolan’s is a 100-mile stretch of trail in Colorado that covers 14 different 14ers and is often done as a supported venture. Though there’s no official route for Nolan’s 14ers, there’s a lot of beta on doing this route, you just need to be able to link up these 14 peaks in a row and figure out supplies and aid, and since I’ll be bringing all of my own, it will be a matter of weather for safety concerns while above the tree line as I trek through it.
Advice to Others:
And how could running 50 or 100 miles in the elements not equal fun? For some it sure doesn’t sound like it. My first 50-miler was run in high humidity and pouring rain. I ran it in a kilt and homemade sandals and finished completely exhausted and with bloodied feet by the end of the race. Maybe not implicitly fun, but by making it fun for me, with sandals and a kilt, I turned the misery into comedy and laughter with other runners and aid station folks. One of my friends supporting me at the race that day knew he had to be doing it next to me the following year, he was so inspired by the joy in my smile throughout.
I wear shoes sometimes now, and shorts too, but the compulsion to plan and run the next race or to get a few long runs in during my days off hasn’t gone away. I’m happier when I can take time and go for a run. I think I’ve learned a whole lot about training, eating, and good equipment for these races and it’s not inconceivable to train and run your first ultra within a few months to a year with basic running and training gear. It is the most basic sport that humans have been doing since we climbed down from trees to the ground. The training builds and builds on itself. Every race you run is a chance to learn how to eat, train, and prepare better for the next one, and the cardio endurance you gain builds and builds.
Racing formats have become more open to different racing styles and abilities. There are looped courses, A-B courses, timed and untimed courses, backyard ultras, and since the pandemic there is even a smattering of virtual races that you can verify with your GPS watch data. Some of these factors can really help people get more comfortable with not just the idea of running the distance but feeling safe and competent doing it. The ultra-running race community has really blown up in the last ten years. I think this is generally a good thing. More people running these distances is good for the sport in general. The people that organize these events are putting them on because they love long distance running and want to share it with others in their community.
Most races are smaller local mom-pop type events without a lot of fanfare but really amazing aid stations and people running them. They get repeat runners year after year because the runners can depend on the beauty of the course, the quality of aid stations and volunteers, and the friendliness of the race directors.
Happy Running!
